Season Plan Confirmed for 2024/25 IRFU Club Competitions

The IRFU has been reviewing the domestic structure for women’s rugby in conjunction with women’s rugby representatives in the provinces and the High-Performance unit. The wider season plan was agreed at the most recent meeting of the IRFU Rugby Committee following a series of engagements and consultations with participating Clubs through the AIL Men’s and Women’s Divisional Forums.

Both Men’s and Women’s Divisions of Energia AIL will feature two ‘No Rugby Weekends’ this season. These weekends are separate to reserve weekends in the calendar to allow players, coaches and volunteers to manage their time away from rugby. The first No Rugby Weekend will coincide with the men’s final Autumn Nations Series game, against Australia on 30, November.

Provision has also been made for the successful Club International Series, for the Energia All-Ireland League Men’s Division players, to continue this season with the intention to play a two game series in a home and away format.

The Energia All-Ireland League Men’s Division will kick off on Saturday 21 September, with the Energia All-Ireland League Women’s set to kick off the following weekend on the Saturday September 28, 2024.

The Energia All-Ireland Women’s semi-finals will be played on Sunday 13 April. There will be no play-off stages for relegation, with the team that finishes bottom of the league relegated to their provincial league.
The winners of the four provincial leagues will play off for promotion, with the top team promoted to the Energia All Ireland League.

The men’s Energia All-Ireland League semi-finals will be played on Saturday 19, April, with their playoff promotion/relegation rounds set for Saturday 26, April.

This year will once again see the double header men’s and women’s finals day, scheduled for Sunday April 27, 2025, and will again be played in Aviva Stadium.

The semi-finals of the Energia Bateman Cup will be played on Sunday 24, November, with the final scheduled for 4, January. The Energia Women’s Junior Cup returns for its third year, which features the top two teams from last seasons provincial leagues. The quarter finals will take place on the weekend of October 12, 2024, semi-finals on the weekend of November 30, 2024, followed by the final on the weekend of January 18, 2025.

The Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship will take place over four rounds. The competition will run between August 10 and August 31 with fixture details to be confirmed in due course.

IRFU Competitions Manager Kevin Beggs said:

“The global calendar is coming into effect and so we were able to map out the domestic season for the coming 12 months with a much clearer picture of what the High Performance calendar looks like.”

“What Clubs want is consistency and that’s what we’re working towards. We are delighted with the engagement and consultations with our AIL Clubs and provincial committees during this process, which is such an important part to develop the season plan, and it’s great to see the understanding and support for the proposed structure.”

Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship

Round 1: Weekend of August 10, 2024
Round 2: Weekend of August 17, 2024
Round 3: Weekend of August 24, 2024
Finals: Weekend of August 31, 2024

Energia Bateman Cup

Semi-Finals: Sunday 24, November 2024
Final: Saturday January 4, 2025

Energia All-Ireland Men’s Junior Cup

Round One: Saturday October 26, 2024
Quarter-Finals: Saturday November 16, 2024
Semi-Finals: Saturday December 14, 2024
Final: Saturday January 25, 2025

Energia All Ireland Women’s Junior Cup

Quarter-Finals: Saturday October 12, 2024
Semi-Finals: Saturday November 23, 2024
Final: Saturday January 18, 2025

Energia All-Ireland League Men’s Promotion Playoffs

Semi-Finals: Saturday April 19, 2025
Final: Saturday April 26, 2025

IRFU Men’s Junior Interprovincial Series

Round 1: Saturday April 26, 2025
Round 2: Saturday May 3, 2025
Round 3: Saturday May 10, 202

IRFU Fraser McMullen Cup

Quarter-Finals: Weekend of Saturday March 29, 2025
Semi-Finals: Weekend of Saturday April 5, 2025
Final: Weekend of Saturday April 12, 2025

Energia All-Ireland League Men’s Divisions 

Round 1: Weekend of Saturday September 21, 2024
Round 2: Weekend of Saturday September 28, 2024
Round 3: Weekend of Saturday October 5, 2024
Round 4: Weekend of Saturday October 19, 2024
Round 5: Weekend of Saturday November 26, 2024
Round 6: Weekend of Saturday November 9, 2024
Round 7: Weekend of Saturday November 16, 2024
NO RUGBY WEEKEND – Weekend of November 30, 2024
Round 8: Weekend of Saturday December 7, 2024
Round 9: Weekend of Saturday December 14, 2024
Round 10: Weekend of Saturday January 11, 2025
Round 11: Weekend of Saturday January 18, 2025
Round 12: Weekend of Saturday January 25, 2025
NO RUGBY WEEKEND – Weekend of February 1, 2025
Round 13: Weekend of Saturday February 8, 2025
Round 14: Weekend of Saturday February 15, 2025
Round 15: Weekend of Saturday March 1, 2025
Round 16: Weekend of Saturday March 22, 2025
Round 17: Weekend of Saturday March 29, 2025
Round 18: Weekend of Saturday April 5, 2025
Play-Off Semi-Finals: Weekend of Saturday April 19, 2025
Energia All-Ireland League Men’s Division and Play-Off Finals: Weekend of Saturday April 26, 2025

Energia All-Ireland League Women’s Divisions

Round 1: Weekend of Saturday September 28, 2024
Round 2: Weekend of Saturday October 5, 2024
Round 3: Weekend of Saturday October 19, 2024
Round 4: Weekend of Saturday October 26, 2024
Round 5: Weekend of Saturday November 9, 2024
Round 6: Weekend of Saturday November 16, 2024
Round 7: Weekend of Saturday November 23, 2024
NO RUGBY WEEKEND – Weekend of Saturday November 30, 2024
Round 8: Weekend of Saturday December 7, 2024
Round 9: Weekend of Saturday December 14, 2024
Round 10: Weekend of Saturday January11, 2025
Round 11: Weekend of Saturday January 18, 2025
Round 12: Weekend of Saturday January 25, 2025
NO RUGBY WEEKEND – Weekend of Saturday February 1, 2025
Round 13: Weekend of Saturday February 8, 2025
Round 14: Weekend of Saturday February 15, 2025
Round 15: Weekend of Saturday March 1, 2025
Round 16: Weekend of Saturday March 8, 2025
Round 17: Weekend of Saturday March 15, 2025
Round 18: Weekend of Saturday March 29, 2025
Energia All-Ireland Women’s Division Semi-Finals: Sunday April 12, 2025
Energia All-Ireland Women’s Division Final: Sunday April 26, 2025